The Story of Rick Tobias

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

So i figured I'd take advantage of this oppurtunity and write some background for Ballcap (Yes, a story post and a new thread in one day (it's just cause I love you guys(just as friends though...)))

anyhooo, I'll prolly use this to make random backhround stuff for the other secondary characters I made up too,like The Doctor or sumthn, I just put the subject as "The story of Rick Tobias" cause a couple other people did and it looks badass

So...yeah, here it is

Part One
The Meeting a.k.a. The Fateful Phone Call

The old city, more than five months ago...

A dark black luxury car pulled in front of a lavish house with several expensive vehicles already parked outside. The front passenger door opened and Rick 'Ballcap' Tobias exited. He looked up into the sun and adjusted his cap so that it would cover his eyes. The driver, Devon "Double-Dime" Dawson, opened the door and slid out affectionately rubbing the top of the car. "That's quite a car you have there" said Ballcap."Yeah, it's what you get when you got money" replied Double-Dime. "And that is indeed what we have." chuckled Ballcap bumping fists with Dime. They entered the house and headed to the dining room where the meeting of their gang was going on. As they entered Tyson 'Twitch' Curtis pulled Dime off to the side. "I need to talk to you" he whispered wringing his hands. "Yeah ok cool" Dime replied. He gave a quick wave to Ballcap as he and Twitch went to talk in a different room.

Ballcap watched them go. They had been his best friends since they were kids. They had lived in the same neighbourhood, went to school together, went to detention together. One of their teachers had once called them 'The Three Thug-sketeers' and it was the name they used when they created their gang. He reminisced about the time they had got into trouble after playing around with Twitch's father's gun collection. They were all grounded for months. They couldn't use the telephones so they set up a can and string 'phone' network between their houses. If there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that they would be pals for the rest of their lives.

Ballcap was standing around idly chatting with some of the gang members when he was called over by Adam Raiker. Raiker was one of the older members of the gang, back when it was just a couple of high school kids hanging out by the oak tree by the school. Adam was one of groups top assassins, few other members could handle a weapon as well as him. He had recently returned from a hired hit with a significantly thicker wallet. "Howzit goin?" he asked. "Not bad. Just enjoying life to the fullest. How 'bout you? got any plans for all that dough?". "I figure i'll take a trip around the world" Adam said jokingly. "And put a bullet up its ass too, eh?" Ballcap replied. They were both laughing at the joke when the phone in the centre of the room started ringing and the room fell in dead silence.

This particular phone was special because it was the phone used specifically by the largest organized crime syndacite in the city to contact them. As an affiliate of theirs, Ballcaps gang was payed well for their work. However recently they had spent more time getting paid than working. Ballcap, being one of the original founders of the gang picked up the phone. As he walked over to the phone he saw Twitch and Dime return from the other room. Dime had an expression on his face that seemed as if though he was mulling over some important news. Ballcap answered the phone and put it on speaker.

"Yello?" he said

"Ah, the Three Thug-sketeers, I've been meaning to talk to you for a while." came the reply

"What about?"

"We've been pouring alot of money into your little group and we haven't been getting anything back."

"I wouldn't say you aren't getting anything-"

"But we certainly aren't getting enough. Now i know you have me on speaker so I'm going to talk to you all directly. Unless we start seeing some results you'll find we can do more than just make phone calls" and with that they hung up.

"Izzat somethin' we should be worried about?" asked one of the low-level members. Ballcap looked at the phone, looked back up at the member and said "Nah." and hung the phone up. The sounds of the crowd returned as Ballcap pushed his way back through the crowd towards Double-Dime and Twitch. "Are you sure this isn't a problem?" asked Twitch. Ballcap knew it was a problem but he wasn't about to cause a panic. "Cheer up, we'll be fine. 'Sides its your birthday in a few days. We gon' have a partay!". Twitch looked slighty less worried. He looked up at Dime for a second then muttered something that sounded like "I have to go". Ballcap and Dime watched him slip out.

"So what were you two talking about?" Ballcap asked. Dime was quiet for a moment "Y'know that hospital fire all those years ago?".

"Yeah, it happened about the same day you were born, why?"

"And you know how Twitch and I were both adopted, right?"

"Yeah, your parents were both killed in the fire. I remember you telling me. Where's this going?"

"The hospital was still trying to sort out the old files that were almost destroyed. They called Twitch yesterday, he's the only one of us with a fixed address. Anyway, they told him...they told him he had a brother. And they dug further and found the name of his twin."

A realization dawned on Rick "And it was-"

"Me" said Dime complete "We're non-identical twins. Still sort of look alike though..."

"Yeah, I noticed. I just thought it was a coincidence though. Did your adoptive parents know?"

"I dunno, they probably suspected something or...something, i dunno, umm, look imma head out. You still need a ride?"

"Naw, I'm getting a new motorcycle from a place nearby. I'll just hop in with some one who's gonna be swinging nearby"

"Yeah, yeah, uhh, yeah, ok. See you later" Dime walked off almost bumping into several people. Rick went into the crowd and found someone who would driving by the place where he would pick up his bike. As he prepared to leave he saw Dime still sitting in his car. He didn't know what was going through Dime's head right now, but whatever it was he'd be thinking about it for a long time...


Will write Part Two soon...

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

Part Two
Worst Birthday Ever a.k.a. The Fatal Fête

Ballcap was still thinking about Twitch and Dime when he arrived at his destination. He thanked his friends for the ride, got out and looked up at the sign overlooking the entire building. "Poole's Used Vehicles". It was a front used to secretly hide an underground car import/export business. It was one of the larger businesses in town and it stretched even as far as the San Fierro area of San Andreas. The business had experienced a large increase in productivity down there around the early nineties. Rumour had it, it was all because of one guy, but Ballcap found that hard to believe. He knocked on the door and was greeted by the owner Greyson Poole. Greyson Poole had his fingers in many illegal pies, this was just another one of them.

"What up, Grey? You got the motorcycle I ordered?"

"You know I do." He brought Ballcap inside and directed his attention to a sleek, red bike "It's Italian made. Looks sort of like your standard street bike, but this baby's got the endurance of a touring motorcycle with the speed of a sports bike. Rick ran his had along the leather seat, looking at this reflection in the paint and the chrome. "This...this is great. This is really, really great".

"I know it is. But one thing it isn't, is free"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure" Ballcap pulled out a large wad of bills and slapped it in Greyson's hand. "Nice doing business with you."

Greyson counted the money. He looked up at Ballcap "Did you get this money from who I think you did?"

"Yeah, why?"

Greyson sighed "You can't mess with these people, kid. No matter how well you play, it's still their game."

"Yeah...I'll keep that in mind. But for now, imma need the keys to this bad boy."

Greyson handed Ballcap the key and watched him leave with old, tired eyes...

The Next Week

It was mid-afternoon on a bright Sunday. Ballcap hand his cellphone in hand ready to call his pal Twitch. He knew Twitch liked to sleep in late and he was more than willing to let him, but he wasn't about to let Twitch spend all of his birthday in bed. He flicked through his contacts and called Twitch's number.

"Mmf-yello?" Twitch muttered as he groggily picked up the phone

"Yo! Twitch-ayy! Guess what day it is!"

"Well...it's not the day I get to sleep in..."

"Ha haaa nope, it's your B'day! and you are going to have the time of your life! Ive got an entire schedule lined up and at the end an all-night partay at Troy's Nightclub!"

"Sounds like a ripping good time" said Twitch tiredly

"Too right, Hugh and Clocks are already on their way over. I'm gonna meet up with you in about an hour, first i gotta pick up your birthday gift."

"What is it?"

"Oh, you'll see, heh heh"

"Heh, aight. See you later"

Ballcap grinned widely as he disconnected the call. He spent about an hour getting Twitch's gift. It was an antique WW2 rifle. Something he was sure Twitch would enjoy. Today was gonna be the best day ever. Nothing, could go wrong. Then the phone rang. Ballcap pressed the button to answer the call. The person on the other end hadn't realized he had answered the phone and was still talking to someone in the background. "-ere was a delay on it, few hours, but it'll still-oh, hang on. Rick?"

"Yeah"

"It's us. We need to talk. Meet us at the corner of 5th and Maple. Your pal Devon has already been instructed to pick you up just outside the mall on Sampson Drive"

"Well...I kinda had plans for today"

"They've just been changed." The caller hung up. Ballcap sighed. He phoned Twitch and told him that he'd be late. Then half an hour later he was sitting with Dime at the corner of 5th and Maple in Dime's new car. "Any idea what this is about?" Dime asked. "I know as much as you do" Ballcap replied. Suddenly Ballcap heard a soft ticking noise. Thinking it was his imagination he turned on the radio to drown it out...

Almost four hours later...

"Just called Twitch" said Dime "said he's on his way to the club"

"Augh, I missed the whole thing, I spent three weeks planning this! What are we doing here?"

"No idea, pretty empty though..."

Ballcap looked around. Dime was right. The street corner was fairly abandoned. The thought strayed into his head that this would be the perfect place and time for a murder, when he made a chilling realization. The ticking sound, the delay he overheard about...

"Get out of the car" he said

"Wha?"

"Get out! Now!"

Ballcap and Dime rushed out of the car. "What's going on?" Dime asked. Ballcap bent over and looked under the car. He saw a box, a clump of wires, a remote signal reciever and a stopwatch. He quickly recognized the bomb as a product of a person known as "The Observer" because he put time delays on his bomb even when they were remote-detonated just so he could watch the explosion and the moments leading up to it. He usually set the timers to go off after a few hours, a quick glance at the stopwatch showed it was going to explode in a few seconds.

Ballcap yelled out "RUN!!" and sped away from the car. He didn't have a chance to look back and see if Dime was moving, he just concentrated on getting out of there. Then from behind him he heard a loud bang. He only heard the explosion for a second as his ears started ringing. He felt his body leave the ground and crash back down in a heap. He tried to crawl away, slipping in and out of conciousness. He needed help. He needed to call someone. He shakily groped for his phone and called Twitch's number.

"Yello!" Twitch answered. Ballcap could hear dance music on the other end.

"Twitch..."

" 'Cap? You don't sound to good what's going on?"

"I...There was..."

"Hang on a sec...crap, somebody's...OH SHI-" Then all Ballcap could hear was gunshots on the other end, the screams of a panicked crowd and, as he slowly began to collapse into unconciousness on the ground, nothing at all...

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

Part Three, took a while but here it is...


Part Three

The Crumbing Empire a.k.a. Fight and Flight

Ballcap woke up and instantly wished he hadn't. Every part of his body was in agony and he tasted blood in his mouth. He groggily sat up and spat on the concrete. His vision and hearing were still a little hazy but he could still see the flames of the exploded car and hear the sounds of sirens in the vincinity. Either they were heading to his location or they were dealing with some other crime. The latter was more likely, in this part of the city. He needed to get moving but, his ride was back at the apartment and the car he had arrived in was a little blown up at the moment. Still he had to get out of there before whoever tried to kill him came back to finish the job. He crawled around searching for his cell phone which he'd dropped when he collapsed. It was still connected to Twitch's phone. Ballcap could hear what was going on on the other end. He'd managed to piece together what had happened. Twitch and the other people who had joined him for the party were ambushed beffore the even made it inside. The shooters had dissappeared into the crowd. Ballcap disconnected and quickly dialed one the members of his gang who lived nearby.

"Umm...yeah?"

"Yo, I need a ride" Ballcap said, still struggling to keep himself awake

"Oh! It's you! ummm...I....can't"

"You ca-why?"

"I-I just can't"

"why?"

"It's them"

"Who?"

"Them."

Ballcap realized what he was talking about "What's going on?"

"They said they were talking about all the high rollers. That by tommorow you'd all be dead and they'd be in control. I can't be seen helping you. I-I don't wanna die"

"Alright, alright just...just park your car somewhere near 5th and Maple. I'll pick it up and no one will see us together."

"Ok, yeah. I'll do that..."

30 Minutes Later

Ballcap was going up the elevator to his small apartment on the 12th floor trying to decide his next course of action. He had to get out of the city. He'd take the new bike and go...where? The elvator bell dinged. He dashed to his apartment and secured all 5 locks when he was inside. Dime had once referred to Ballcap's apartment as "The Fortress of Decrepitude" which was a fair description. It was messy and rank, but Ballcap knew few other more secure places. He threw some clothes, cash and weapons into a bag and started to leave. He had gotten down to the last lock when his doorbell rang. He was about to open the door but relized that assassins could be waiting on the other end. Maybe not very good assassins but assassins nonetheless. He back slowly away from the door, pulling out his pistol as he did. It was given to him by an old friend who had died in a car crash a week later. He kept it as a reminder that not everybody dies shooting.

Suddenly the door was kicked in with a resounding crash. Had all locks been closed the door would've held but the one lock on its own wasn't strong enough. Ballcap hid in the bathroom using the mirror to see from his position to the front door. Three gunmen came into the room. One of them told the others "Wait here by the door. Imma go find him.". He went towards the kitchen, away from the bathroom. Ballcap leaned slowly out and shot one of the assassins in the back, then took down his ally before he relized what happened. The leader returned from the kithchen responding to the shots. He caught a glimpse of Ballcap in the washroom and charged at him with a guttural yell. Ballcap hid behind the doorframe and just as the assassin entered the room he tripped him sending him crashing into the ground. The hitman hit his head on the sink with a sickening crack and slumped on the floor. Ballcap, in a moment of brutality that suprised even himself, blasted a hole in the hitman's head to make sure he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Or at all.

Ballcap knew his time was running out so he grabbed his bag and snatched a hat off a hook by the door. By the time he'd relized he had he was already in the elevator. He stuffed the cap in his jacket pocket and was about to get on his motorcycle and drive off when he heard someone call his name from behind. He turned and saw a figure pointing a gun at him. Reflexively he shot the person down. As they collapsed their head fell under a spot of light and Rick could see his face. It was one of the members of his gang. Rick remembered talking to him earlier at the meeting, they were debating the outcome of the basketball game on TV the next day, and now here he was trying to kill him. Rick relized that the organization that had once employed him must be turning the gang members against him. Who better to kill someone than someone they trust? Rick decided there was no better time to leave. He didn't know where to go but he figured he'd find out when he got there.

Meanwhile...

Devon "Double-Dime" Dawson remembered many things. He remembered running away from a car that was about to explode, he remembered being thrown into the air, he remembered waking up in a hospital, he remembered leaving, he remembered being grabbed and thrown into a black van, pulled out and brought through a large building to the desk of a figure completely covered in shadow but at this point it didn't seem like he'd be remembering anything else.

"Mr. Dawson," said the figure "How are you"

"Bit of a headache, nothing new"

"Hm, of course." The figure spun his chair towards the window and said "Mr. Dawson I have a proposition for you."

"I'm listening"

"I want you to kill Rick Tobias"

Dime wasn't about to go out and kill one of his friends without a reason "Why should I?" he asked

"Well, let's just say there are some people out there who like to see you die. Very slowly and very painfully"

"Any particular reason?"

"Nope. Most of them are just crazy. However they would be forgiving if you were to take down Mr. Tobias"

Dime thought for a moment. "Sorry not good enough for me"

"Well how about this? I'm sure your aware of your connection to Tyson Curtis"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"He's dead"

"What!?"

"Yes, seems Mr Tobias heard about an ambush set up for him at Troy's Nightclub and sent your brother in his place"

Dime was seething with rage. How could Rick be such a coward? How could he let this happen? "I'll do it" he said "I'll kill him"

"I figured you would. I trust you know the way out?"

"Yeah"

"Excellent, we'll keep in touch"

Dime left, little knowing of the web of lies that had just been spun. Nothing mattered to him now but avenging his brother. It was time to go hunting...

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

Was bored, saw other ppl writing their stories and i thought "why not?"

Part Four

Settling Down a.k.a. Fiasco at Flo's

Late-afternoon sunlight glared off the chrome of a red italian-made motorcycle zooming down the highway. Rick Tobias gazed into the distance. For about a month now he had been on the run. His gang had been destroyed by the people who funded it. He had nothing left except for his bike and what he managed to toss into his bag. He had survived by eating at dingy diners and sleeping at musty motels. He was heading west as far away as he could from his old city. All he wanted was somewheer to settle down where he woldn't have to run anymore. looking up he saw a sign saying an exit was coming up. It lead to someplace called N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville. According to news stories he had heard during his trip, it was the most crime-ridden city in the country. Maybe he could hide out there among the other criminals and gangsters. His descision made he turned towards the exit as the sun began to come down.

By the time he arrived in the city it was the evening. He needed to find somewhere to stay as he had no intrest in sleeping outside. There was no way he could ever do that, at least not with out reason. But firstly, he needed to eat. He hadn't eaten since morning and his meal was minimal at best. He parked in the parking lot of a little place called "Flo's Diner". "Well it may be generic, but at least it's something" he thought. He looked inside and saw there were no customers. As he opened the door a bell over the door dinged. A middle-aged woman behind the counter asked "What'll you have, hon?"

"What'd you got?"

"Well, I've been told I make a mean soup."

"The good kind of mean, I hope?" Rick chuckled

"The best" she grinned

"Well i'll have some of that then"

She went into the kitchen and returned with a bowl of soup. "Y'know" she said as she placed the bowl and a spoon in front of Rick an he handed over some money "We don't get too many people coming into the city. Why are you here?"

"How can you tell I'm new?"

"You keep looking over your shoulder, most folk 'round here don't even bother anymore. They know they won't like what they see"

"Well, I'm just..." Rick didn't know if he should answer or not. Could he trust this lady?

"You're running from somethin', aren't ya?"

"Yeah. I guess I am"

"Well, hon, if there's one thing I know it's that the faster you run from your past, the quicker it becomes your present"

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind"

"So, you got a place to stay?"

"No, I was gonna look around for a motel"

"Aw, you don't wana do that" she said with a wave of her hand "Most places here you'd be lucky to wake up with any of you organs in place." she thought for a moment "Tell ya what, my nephew Rodney has an apartment he doesn't use. God only knows why he bought it. You can use that as long as you like."

"Thanks" said Rick as he ate "You're being so nice to me and I don't even know your name"

"Name's Flo, hon. Didn't you see the sign outside?"

"Well yeah, but I've seen at least four other "Flo's Diner's" before this one."

"Oh, they're just part of one large company. No one ever suspect's a thing."

"Really?"

"Shucks, heck no. My guess is they just like the sound of the name. Me. I'm the real article."

Rick finished his soup and placed the spoon in the bowl with a soft clink. "So where is this apartment?"

"Oh, it's down on Weston, that's north of here. the address of the buliding is 514 and the apartment number is 1607" She said as she handed Rick the key

Rick wrote all this down on a napkin and put it and the key in his pocket. "Thanks, I'm probably going to be laeving tommorow though."

"Well you gotta do what you gotta do."

For the first time in a long while Rick Tobias smiled. Everything was working out. Maybe this time his luck would change. He was about to turn and leave when a dark read vehicle pulled up in front of the diner. Some one inside poked an SMG out the passenger window. Rick yelled "GET DOWN!" as a hail of bullets pierced the windows. The bullets ricocheted off the tables and chairs sending condiments and napkins flying. After a few seconds which felt like hours the bullets stopped coming. Rick got up slowly and peeked over the counter. He saw Flo on the ground in a pool of her own blood. He didn't take long to guess that whoever the shooter was they were working for his old funders. He didn't know how they found him, but they weren't getting away.

He ran out the door towards his bike as the car pulled away. He got on and raced after the car and soon pulled up behind it. Slowly, he reached in his jacket and pulled out his gun. It was crazy of him to think he could shoot while driving but he was too blinded by rage to care. Holding on with one hand he shot wildly at the vehicle. By pure luck on of his shots got the driver in the arm. Not enough to be lethal but it did make him lose control. The car crashed into a parked vehicle and went flying landing a short distance away on it's top. The gas tank burst and gasoline was leaking out. One of the people in the car was slowly pulling himself out. Rick ran up, grabbed him buy his shirt and thrust him up against the vehicle.

"Why can't you leave me alone!?" he demanded

" 'the hell you talkin 'bout man?"

"You know what I'm talking about! You just tried to kill me!"

"Man this had nothin to do with you! The old lady's nephew cheated our boys out of some dope. We were just sending a message"

"So...this wasn't about me?"

"Hell naw, who the hell are you?"

"I guess I'm no one" Rick replied and with that he rammed his pistol into the person's head. They slumped down on the ground. The shooters hadn't been after him but they still killed Flo and the least he could do was avenge her death. Rick walked until he was a safe distance away then tossed a lighter he'd swiped from a motel into the puddle of gas.The vehice burst into a fireball, incinerating the two gangsters. As Rick watched the vehicle burn he assesed his situation. He wasn't being chased anymore. Either they gave up or couldn't be bothered. Now he had a place to stay. Looked like he was going to be here a while...

Four Months Later...

Rick Tobias cruised the city streets. He only had four dollars in his wallet. The bike was near empty and he needed gas. It was time to do what he did best...

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

The two long posts with every post i posted before were taking up way too much room, so just check the old story thread if you want to see them

http://apb.nevolved.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=3509

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

(see above)

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

It's preety short, but ive been meaning to set up this next part for a while now and so...here it is!

I woke up bright and early, even before my alarm came on. I was awoken by my dreams. I still dreamt about what happened all those months ago. Old friends and new enemies. But right now it was time to move on...

I flicked on the T.V. and Pauleen Robinson was going over the top movies of the week. At number one was Noodles: The Movie. Part of me was intrested in seeing it, but it probably wasn't going to be better than the book. Besides I had something to do today. After a quick breakfast I headed out to Mike's garage. Rather than take the bike I used the bus to get where I was going. I would be getting the car there anyway. I stopped outside and took a deep breath. Street racing. It was risky, but the possible payoff balanced that out. Admittedly I didn't know much about cars but I figured with someone like Mike backing me up, I'd be unstoppable. As I walked in I saw Mike toss something into a drawer in his desk and quickly shut it as though he didn't want me to see it. I knew it probably meant trouble but for now I was just going to overlook it. "Rick, c'mon in" I walked in and shut the door. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, have you given any thought to racing?"

"Plenty. Seems worth my time, but I need to know why you want me to do this"

"I'm supplying you with parts and upgrades for you vehicle. That's all you need to know"

"That's not good enough"

"It'll have to do for now" he said, dismissing the issue. "Now then, there's a meet going on tonight at 1. You go down there, stir up some trouble and we roll from there."

"That's your plan? Stir up trouble?"

"Yes, it is"

"I can't help but think you have an ulterior motive in this"

"There's always an ulterior motive in everything"

"So is that a 'yes'?"

"It just might be. The location's on you GPS. Be there, don't disappoint"

I left the office and got in the car. The front end had been repaired after my collision with the armoured van. I pulled off back to the apartment to relax until it was time to head out. I was going to need every bit of driving prowess I had. I wouldn't want anything to come up and blindside me when I wasn't looking....

Meanwhile...

Mike Rototelli watched Rick Tobias drive off. He reached into the desk drawer and pulled out the thing he'd tossed in there earlier. The plan was coming together better than expected. It had taken months of planning and thousands of dollars but soon it would all be worth it. The light from the window reflected off the police badge in his hand. Soon, it would all be worth it...

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

I arrived home later than expected. The temptation to go cruising was too great. I'd spent a good hour or so speeding through the less populated areas of the city. Streets that hadn't been plowed since the snow started falling provided some challenge but the car stayed mostly in control. I headed back to the apartment after I heard the sounds of incoming police cars. I thought they were coming for me but instead they headed uptown, away from where I was. Sounded like something big went down.

When I got back to the apartment I tossed my jacket on a chair and turned on the T.V. There was a commercial on for the Boxing Week Sale at City Electrical. I'd heard one of their stores had been robbed earlier in the year. The would-be robbers almost got away but some crazy vigilante with a rocket launcher showed up and, needless to say, made short work of them. The news returned from commercial playing their theme song, zooming in on the news desk where Pauleen Robinson was pressing her hand to her ear to hear an incoming update. As the lights around the desk turned brighter she looked up and said "Breaking News, gang boss, Rick Tobias Senior, was found dead in his uptown home today". Well, that explains the cops headed uptown and-wait... What did she say his name was? Grabbing the remote I turned up the T.V. "His wife is deceased and the location of his son, Rick Tobias Junior is unknown at this time." I couldn't believe it. My father had been living in N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville this whole time. Only a few minutes away. The last time I had seen him I was six years old. He and my mom were arguing. He said he had to leave, to protect us from something. I guess this was it. Pauleen had gone over a short biography of him, describing the things he did. He led a gang known as "The Hand" which had shown up a few years ago. After rising in power and number they went to war with the N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville division of a gang known as "The Kingdom" led by a man known only as "Baron". It seemed to have started after a feud between my father and Baron after he tried to merge the two gangs in exchange for Baron shutting down any drug operations he had. Baron disagreed and declared war upon my father. The Hand fought hard but since they refused to sell drugs, money was tight and eventually there were only a few left. Now there were even fewer...

"We go now live to Rob Paulson at the scene."

"Thanks, Pauleen. I'm here at the residence of Rick Tobias Sr. whom, according to police, was shot yesterday. The killer apparently came in through a window. Police were unable to discern a footprint from the dirt and snow left by the killer inside and out. His body was discover by a passing jogger who saw the open window. I'm told he's here and we can talk to him and-OH FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!"

It seemed like the witness from all the other scenes had shown up here too. That guy gets around. He grabbed the microphone, Rob didn't even bother to try and stop him. "Hey wassup, news-watchin' people!? 'Kay, so, yeah, there I was jogging, right? cause y'know gotta keep slim for the ladies, know what I'm sayin? So i see the window open and i'm like 'damn, dis fella gon' catch a cold!'. So i walk over and i see him just lying on the floor like he sleepin or somethin'. But he was dead and now i famous for findin him! dat's right, holla at yo' boy! Wooooo!"

Rob tried to pull back the microphone but the witness wasn't done yet "Ay, yo. before i go i wanna shout-out to my homies Joey Fly, Big X, and Lil' Rod. And of course my momma, hayy moms, im on T.V. again!" While the witness was waving Rob grabbed the microphon and said "Back to you, Pauleen". Before the image switched back to the studio I heard him say "Look for this guy next time.". I found it suspicious that this guy always showed up at crime scenes related to me but I had a bigger thing to deal with right now. Someone had assassinated my father. I had to figure out who and why. It probably had something to do with that "Baron" person. I had just talked to him a few weeks ago. The police couldn't find the killer but I figured a professional assassin would know how to catch a professional assassin, and I only knew one...

I called Adam Raiker and after a couple rings he picked up. "Hello?"

"Yo Adam. It's me Rick."

"Oh hey, what's up?"

"Did you see the news?"

"Yeah, yeah I heard about what happened"

"Look. Can you maybe think of anything the police may have missed when they were investigating? They said the footprints were untraceable but I figured you would know if there was anyway this guy could've slipped up."

"I wouldn't be able to check without seeing the scene, and we wouldn't be able to get in there"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive"

"Aight well thanks anyway, look I gotta go do something. You think of anything call me on my cell. Later."

"Later"

I hung up the phone but just as I did it started ringing again. Who could be calling me? Maybe the police found out who I am. That could be a problem. I answered the phone making a feeble attempt to disguise my voice "Hello?"

"Rick? It's Mike"

"Oh, yeah. What's up?"

"Are you ready? Race time's in a few hours."

"Yeah look Mike I don't think I can make it..."

"Why not?"

"Something came up and-"

"Do I sound like I give a damn!? You will go down there and you will race! I have too much riding on this for you to back out now!" And with that he hung up. I figured there wasn't much I could do anyways. Maybe racing would take my mind off things. But knowing my luck, I was heading into another disaster...

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

was bored so i decided to write, ill prolly write another part sometime this week, altho more likely the weekend

The sun had set and the sky changed from orange fire to black velvet. It was almost time to leave. I pulled on my jacket and grabbed my cap pulling it down over my head then turing it backwards. Just before I left I made one last check of the news in case any new information about my father came up. Pauleen Robinson was doing a story in front of a chinese resturant where four government agents had been attacked. One dead and the others had a range of injuries. I was suprised to learn that the suspect was Adam Raiker. He did sound like he was hiding something when I last talked to him, I guess this was it. Hopefully he managed to get out of the city before getting caught. I wouldn't want have to try and break him out a second time.

I entered the elevator and pressed the button for the garage floor. Someone got on a couple floors down. He kept his hand in his pocket and I noticed a gun shaped lump inside. We both were trying not to look each other in the eye, we both knew that each of us were going out to do something crazy, and neither of us might make it back. The elevator opening at ground floor snapped me out of my thoughts. The man stepped out and walked towards the lobby doors. Then the elevator closed, rattled a little, then opened up to the garage. I made my way over to the car, taking a quick second to check my motorcycle. Someone had been touching it recently, I could see fingerprints on the mirrors I usually kept clean. I'd deal with that later. Opening the door I slid into the car and started it. I checked the GPS system for the location of the meet. It was around the warehouse district. I pulled out of the garage and drove into the night.

Later in the Warehouse District

Before I arrived I could hear the sounds of music and engines. In a normal neighbourhood this would've attracted cop attention but down here there was nobody around, or at least no one who cared enough to interfer. I brought the car around a corner and in that instant I forgot about my father, Dime, Mike and everything else. The energy and excitement of the racers was enticing. Some were street dancing to music from the speakers in the back of their cars, others were having freestyle rap batles using a karoke machine hooked up to an SUV trunk, and a few others were using their vehicles hydraulics in DDR-esque dance battles. But they main event was the racing. There was an entire strip of road where no one was standing but cars were drag racing up and down. Cash changed hands almost as fast as the cars were going. It was time to make my move.

I pulled slowly towards the edge of the crowd. At first no one noticed but then a few turned around and told everyone else. Fresh meat arrived. Next thing I knew a small crowd congregated outside my car. One of them tapped on the window. I rolled it down. "Hey, New Guy, what ch'you here for?" he asked

"Racin' cars, man" I replied

"You think you can just pull up and get rollin'? It don't work like that, you gotta audition first"

"Aight, who I gotta beat?"

"That guy" he pointed to a driver standing behind him "If you can beat this guy, we'll let you play some reindeer games. If not, bye bye Rudolph"

"Let's do this then"

A Few Minutes Later

We were sitting at the starting line. It was a simple drag race, first to the end wins. I intended for that to be me. A young woman walked in front of the cars and stood in between them. She raised one hand and called "Ready?" the driver revved his enginge in response. The she raised her other hand and called "Ready?" towards me. I revved also. This was it. She brought both her hands down and yelled "GO!".

And with that we blew off the line. The only sound I could hear were the engines barrelling towards the end. At first we were neck and neck but then he started to pull ahead. I couldn't let him win. The adrenaline was already coursing through my veins. All that mattered was crossing that line first. I pushed the car farther than ever had before. I slowly pulled up to him. The last thing I saw before crossing the line was both of us right beside each other. I slammed the brakes and we both came to a halt. I didn't know what'd happened, then the guy who'd come up to me before came up beside my car. He beckoned for me to come out.

I opened the door and sound came rushing back. The crowd was cheering. The guy slapped my back and yelled "You won, bro!". The realization dawned on me as I pulled out of my trance. I punched my fist in the air and the crowd cheered. Suddenly a hand pulled me away. I looked up at the person connected to it. It was Rose. One of the drivers from the breakout. "Good going, hotshot" she said. "It was nothing" I replied grinning. "Don't let it go to your head though. You're a long way from number one." she retorted, smirking. "And who is number one?" I asked. She nodded in the direction of a racer with a small crowd around him "Around here, he is.". The racer was asian and had tattoos on his arms. "He's got an entire gang of drivers behind him known as The Eastern Sun Drifters. You take him down though, and you'll be the top dog.". She looked at me as if she was daring me to do it. "Okay, what do I have to do?". "Simple, you go over there and challenge him. You two will have a best-two-out-of-three race. If you win, you'll be the champ. If not....well it's not like anyone will miss you.". She grinned and pushed some stray strands of red hair away from her eyes. Logically, this plan was insane. I didn't know this guy or how he drove. However, this would qualify as 'stirring up trouble'. With a wink she disappeared into the crowd leaving me to make my descision. I started walking towards the racer. If this worked out, I'd certainly be in a better position than I am now and if not...I probably shouldn't think about that...

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

Had some time to kill over the past few days and this is the result...

I moved slowly through the crowd, still shaking off some of the excitement from the race. I'd managed to win my first race but i didn't want to be blinded by arrogance. This guy was, according to Rose, one of the best drivers in the city. By taking him down I'd move up in rank and would probably be able to challenge other top-tier drivers but, I knew nothing about him or what he could do. If Rose were around I'd ask her but she ran off. Still, there was one other person I could talk to...

I found the guy who'd come up to me earlier. By asking around I found out he was nicknamed 'Jazz' and he was one of the race organizers, primarily mapping out new routes along the eastern part of the city. "Yo Rudolph" he chuckled "What's shakin?"

"Not much, look I gotta ask you something."

"Shoot"

"What can you tell me about that guy over there?" I pointed towards the driver and the small crowd around him.

"Taro? I dunno if you wanna be taking him on, only two other people in the city have ever beat him and I'm sure your not one of them."

"Just tell me, I'll decide whether or not I can handle him."

"His name's Taro. His father runs a syndacite in control of the north end of the city. Taro wanted to be just like his pops so he started up his own gang of racers. They're one of the most dominating street racing gangs in the city and Taro is the best of them all. No one's stupid enough to challenge him."

"Well, maybe I just am."

"All right, but try not to embarass yourself. No one likes a loser."

"Then it's a good thing I don't plan on losing"

I left Jazz and he turned back to the drivers he was talking to earlier. Part of me was still wondering if this was a good plan. But I'd spent enough time thinking, it was time for doing. I walked over to Taro. When I got close he looked up from the three women he was talking to and asked "What's up?"

"Nothin' much" I replied, staying as cool as possible

"Alright. Well I figure you have a reason for coming over here, so what is it that you want?"

"A race"

He chuckled "A race?"

"Yeah, you and me. Best two out of three"

"Oh you wanna make this official? You think just cause you win one drag race you're somebody? Tell you what, you leave now and I'll forget this ever happened"

A crowd was forming around us. They were looking for a show, I didn't want to dissapoint "Well if you're too scared that's perfectly understandable"

Taro chuckled again. He was in full control of the situation, and he knew it. "Okay then, I'll humour you. But when you lose, I don't ever want to see you around here again"

"And if I win?"

"Don't worry, you won't"

Everybody was getting pumped up for a new race. Bets were being made. I didnt have to listen to know I was the underdog.

A Few Minutes Later...

I was sitting at a starting line for the second time in less than an hour. Every thing else had been stopped, everyone wanted to see the champion beat another opponent. Rather than a drag race there were going to be three single-lap races around one of the warehouses. Taro was standing beside his vehicle, a sleek sports car coloured gold with a vinyl of a sun rising, raising his fists as if though he'd already won. Maybe he had. Jazz came up to my car and told me I had one last chance to back out. I said "I'll get back to you on that". He gave a sarcastic chuckle and waved one of the girls over to the line. She walked up and blew a kiss to Taro as he slid into his car and the crowd cheered. I might just be in over my head here...

The crowd moved away as pylons and "Road Closed" signs were placed around the track. Two flares were lit on either side to show the start/finish line. The starter rose her left hand and Taro gave the ready signal, she raised her right hand and I did the same. She brought both hands down and the race was on.

I felt myself leap off the line. Everything turned into a blur, except Taro who was moving ahead. Normally that would be a problem but the race would be four left turns and I was on the inside. As we were going into the turn I prepared to take the lead when he did something unexpected. Instead of slowing down he sped up then turned sharply it looked like he was going to oversteer the turn but then he turned the wheel in the opposite direction and slid through the turn. I vaguely recognized it as a drifting technique called powersliding. I had read a little bit about it, it was a beginner technique but the way he used it prevented me from passing him in the turns eliminating all my options. Coming into the second turn I tried to pass but was blocked again. He was using a beginner technique to beat me, he was doing this just to embarass me. He didn't just want to defeat me, he wanted to destroy me. We went into the third turn repeating the process again. I could hear the crowd cheering by the time we finished the final turn and the race.

Taro climbed out and raised his hands in the air. His trademark salute. I climbed out of my car to stretch my legs. I hadn't slept in a while and I was starting to feel it. Taro turned to me and said "That's called technique, my friend. It works much better than getting lucky.". The crowd cheered for him. He was their hero. This was really starting to get annoying. "It's a best-two-out-of-three race, my friend. I've still got a chance to get lucky.". He laughed, not losing his cool, "We'll see". We slid back into our cars and the second race started.

As we came out of the third turn the whole night started to get to me, lack of sleep, lack of respect and the crowd constantly lauding over Taro. If I lost this race I lose any oppurtunity of moving up in the city and I did not want to go back to being just another convience store robber in a sea of them. I am Rick Jonathan Tobias Junior goddammit! And I'm not going down without a fight. When Taro went into his final drift, instead of trying to go through the inside I went on the outside and sped up, pushing Taro into a spin. I could see him in my rearview quickly regaining control of his car but not quickly enough to stop me from finishing first. When he finished he charged straight at me as I got out of my car.

"What the hell was that!?" he demanded

"A race" I replied

"Don't be a smart-ass, you know what I mean"

"Hey look, no one said anything about the cars not having any contact"

Jazz came out of the dispersing crowd and said "It's not usually done but theres no rule against it. Anyhoo, y'all will have to continue this some other time. Sun's coming up and that usually means cops which always means trouble."

Taro turned to me and said "Here, in two days, we'll finish this"

"See you there" I replied

Taro and Jazz walked off and headed back to my car. In the reflection on the car I could see someone approaching. I turned and saw it was Rose, her red hair falling over one eye. I don't know why it grabbed my attention like it did, it just...did. She walked up to me and said "Nice driving, hotshot. You might just be the one we need.". "Need for what?" I asked but she was already walking away, leaving me with more questions than answers...

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

had a couple hours of free time, so i wrote this

I had left the warehouse district a while ago and found myself on the near-deserted streets of N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville at night. The sun would be up in a couple hours and I still hadn't gotten any sleep. After my performance at the race track I think I deserved a day off. One last thing to do though. I pulled out my cell and dialed Mike's number. I didn't usually talk on the phone and drive at the same time, but it's hard to get into an accident with no one else around. The phone rang only once then Mike answered "What's the situation?".

"Situation?" I asked "You sound like a cop, bro. Anyway, I stirred up trouble like you said, and I managed to get a race with a driver named Taro."

"Taro Yamamura?"

"Yeah. Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. This, this is perfect. When and where are you meeting him?"

"The warehouse district again, in two days."

"This is the perfect oppurtunity to shut him down..."

"Shut him down?"

"Err, In a race, obviously"

Mike was acting suspicious. I was about ask him about it when I noticed a pair of SUV headlights closing in. "Mike, I have to go" I said and disconnected the call. i'd barely put the phone down when the SUv rammed me. I fell forward and nearly hit my head on the sterring wheel. The SUV rammed me again and again and I could barely keep the car under control. I floored the accelerator and tried to pull away. Then from behind me I could see someone leaning out of the passenger window, with an SMG in their hands. They fired. I could hear the bullets hitting and ricocheting of the back of the car. If they hit the gas tank, things would get hot. I swerved back and forth tryin to avoid getting hit. I couldn't shake my pursuers. I had one last idea, if it didn't work out then i'd have alot less to worry about.

I pulled towards an intersection at a high speed, at the last second I turned sharply left and the other driver attempted to follow. He tried to turn but at that speed and with the weight of the vehicle he ended up flipping over. The SUV rolled once, then almost went twice but ended up upside-down leaning on the wall of an electronics store at the corner. The collision knocked over several T.V.s. I exited my vehicle and walked over to the crashed SUV, pulling out my pistol as I did. The scene gave me Déjà vu. The passenger was dead, but the driver was trying to get out. A couple shots from my pistol kept him down. I did a quick check to make sure no one else was alive, that's when I noticed one of the T.V.s survived the crash. It was on the 24-hour news channel. I was about to leave Pauleen Robinson said that they had new information on the killer of Rick Tobias Sr. I froze, I don't know how they did it bit someone figured something out. I waited with bated breath to hear the name. "The killer has been confirmed as Adam Raiker, who's location is unknown at this time.". I nearly fell over in shock. All this time, I thought we were friends and he killed my father. He pretended he didn't know anything about the assassination, when he was the one who did it. I didn't know where he was but if he came back he'd have some explaining to do. I climbed back into the car. I took a quick glance into the back, there were holes and dents everywhere. I'd have to get Mike to fix that...

A short while later...


I parked the car in my regular space. I parked with the front facing out so the damage in the back wouldn't be so obvious. I got in the elevator and pressed the button for the 16th floor. As it was going up it stopped on the ground floor. The same man I'd seen early in the night got on. He looked jittery and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw me. "Rough night?" I asked as the elevator door closed. Without warning, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at me "No witnesses" He panted "They told me, no witnesses".

"What are you talking about?" I asked, reaching for my weapon.

"I-I just killed someone, because someone else wanted them dead and- and you can tell the police when I left and came back, and I - I cant have that" He was about to fire when I rapidly pulled out my pistol and shot him in the chest. He fell against the wall and slid down leave a trail of blood as he did. The elevator stopped with a ding on the 16th floor and I ran to my room before any witnesses could show up. I crashed on my couch in exhaustion just as I heard screams coming from down the hall. Can't I ever have a good night?

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

's been a while, and RT sounded like a whiny b*tch at the end of the last part so i needed something that had a better last line, and this one does...

I was in the air, weightless and soaring. Suddenly everything lurched forward and I was falling...

THWUMP

I crashed on to the floor after rolling out of the couch in my sleep. I climbed back onto the couch and leaned back. It had been a rough night and now I had some things to work out. First, i had to get the rear end of the car fixed and then I had to find out who tried to kill me in that SUV last night. My best guess was it was Baron, he probably thought that I'd learned about the feud between him and my father and wanted take care of me before I became a problem. If that were the case I'd have to be careful around Mike. Unforetunatly I didn't know anyone with the skills to repair my car by tommorow in time for my rematch with Taro. But before all that I had to get up. I pushed up from the couch and stumbled over to the bathroom for a quick, cold shower. After the shower I flicked on the T.V. while I had breakfast. When I turned it on I saw Rob Paulson at the scene where the SUV had crashed. The electronics store's walls and windows had been pushed inwards, the door had fallen off the hinge, and the sign looked like it would be next. Just before I was about to turn the T.V. off after finishing breakfast Pauleen Robinson was doing a short blurb on a dead body found in the elevator of an apartment building in the North Weston area. I was practically a celebrity in this city and almost no one knew.

When I left my room I left my gun behind. I figured there'd still be cops around, and I was right. There were only two people at the scene. I guess the NASWVPD was strecthed thin. One of them was crouched in the elevator taking photos and the other was standing outside writing on a notepad. The one writing on the pad called me over. "Sir? Did you notice anything suspicious last night?"

"Well, I head a gunshot." I said "But I figured that was just a regular occurence in this city."

"Yeah, a little too regular. Thanks for your help." He replied while writing. I passed him and pressed the elevator button. One of the buildings other elevators opened up and I stepped inside. Keeping my cool I pressed the button for the garage and was on my way.

The elevator opened up and I walked briskly to where the car was parked. It was still fairly early in the morning, I might be able to get to Mike's without witnesses. I pulled out of the garage and headed to Mike's place. About halfway there I saw lights flashing and a police car signalling for me to pull over. I brought the car over to the side of the road. The officer got out and walked up to the driver window. "You've got alot of damage back there, sir. Been around alot of shooting recently?"

"Me? No. Must've been some kids."

"Why didn't you report it?"

"Oh, well I figured you guys were so busy already, what with everything else that goes on. I didn't want to bother you over this."

"Uh huuuh. So where are you getting it repaired?"

"A garage on the north end."

He seemed suprised for a moment "Mike Rototelli's garage?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Uhh, no reason. You have a nice day now." He rushed back to his car and drove off. Leaving me to wonder exactly what was going on...

Later...

I pulled into the back of Mike's garage. He came out wiping his hands in the same rag he always used. He glanced at the back and asked "What happened?"

"I got attacked last night. SUV pulled out of nowhere, starting shooting into the car. D'you think you could fix it?"

"New parts, windows...this is going to be expensive..."

"Yeah, but we'd make it back street racing, wouldn't we?"

He sighed, sonething was stressing him out, but I had more important things to worry about. "Yeah I know a guy who recently got the same model. I'll just scrap what I need. Although it'd be easier to get a new car."

"If it's all the same to you" I said "I prefer this one. I went through alot to get it."

"Hrm, figured you'd say that."

"Look, if it's too much trouble-"

"No! I need you at the top of your game!"

"Alright, alright. You think you can fix it in time for the race?"

"Yeah, definitely. There's a car in the garage with the keys in the ignition. Take it for now."

"Yeah sure." Before I left, there was one last thing I had to do "You talked to Baron recently?"

Without turning he said "No, not since your father died"

"If you knew who my father was and you knew the Baron, why didn't you tell me?"

He said frankly "He's much more of a threat than you are, and I didn't want you flying off the handle."

I shrugged "Fair enough. But you know I'm going to have to get back at him for what he did."

"Yeah. I know"

I nodded and walked to the garage. I got in the car and pulled off to wait at the apartment for Mike's call back...

Meanwhile back at the garage...

Mike Rototelli threw his rag onto the ground in frustration. This operation was getting too expensive. It started out simple enough. The only way to take out all the major gangs was to play their game. Rather than start building from the ground up, they used an already established organization to shove out all the others. Then once it was over they'd take out the Baron and hopefully a large part of the crime syndacite known as The Kingdom. But the budget had long been passed, and the feds the police force were working with were losing patience. And now he had to deal with this. If the Tobias kid lost it, everything would be put in jeporady. But soon it would all be worth it. Very soon.

The day of the race

Mike called and said the car was fixed and I had to get there ASAP. I brought his car back and drove it into the garage. I walked around back to see the car. It looked alomost as good as new, not perfect, but it would do. Mike slid out from under the car. "Got it back into shape. Hey, who was shooting at you anyway?"

"I dunno I didn't see. But I have a pretty good guess."

"Baron? That's not his style. He'd want you to know it was him."

"Then who?"

"What about Taro? You embarassed him, it's a pretty good motive. Not to mention calling you back for a rematch is good setup for an ambush. I'd watch out if i were you."

I felt my pistol, tucked safely in my waistband. "Yeah, I will thanks"

Later, in the warehouse district...

I pulled behind a warehouse marked with a large 5 on the front. Taro was already there with Jazz and a few members of his crew. Although I wasn't sure I could trust anything Mike said, this did look like an ambush. Well I wasn't about to fall into another trap. I got out and started walking towards Taro, reaching for my pistol as I did. "Hey, nice to see your doing well." he said. I grabbed him by his shirt collar and held the gun against his head. "That's a surprise, coming from you.". In the corner of my eye I saw Taro's gang members reaching for their own weapons. There was a distinct possibility that I might not make it out of this. "What is this about?" he asked, trying to remain calm. "You know exactly what it's about. I was attacked a couple nights ago, somebody knows why. I'm betting it's you".

"And why would I do that?"

"Do you really need me to answer that?"

"Look, I may have been angry when you beat me, but that's just because I prefer not losing. Sombody is trying to kill you, but it's not me."

At first I still thought he had something to do with it, but it wasn't as if I were the most popular person in the city. Looks like, despite what Mike says, what happened was exactly the Baron's style. I put the gun away and Taro signalled for his allies to do the same. Jazz stepped in to break the tension. "Alright, now that that's settled, let's do some racing, eh?". Jazz laid out the route the race would take and both Taro and I inputed it into our GPS systems. We were about to get ready when someone said "Do you hear that?". At first I couldn't hear anything, then I heard the sound of chopper blades as a helicopter flew over the scene, then from a megaphone in the chopper we could hear "This is the N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville Police! Everybody get down on the ground and put your hands on your head, NOW!"

Everybody did the exact opposite. They bailed to thier cars, and tried to speed off but the cops were starting to block the exits. I slid into the car and sped away from the warehouse, narrowly missing a roadblock. I could see Taro right behind me. The GPS systems came with a communicator tuned to a specific frquency. I tuned onto Taro's. "Yo, you there?".

"Yeah, i'm here" he replied "What is it? Make it quick."

"I've an idea, follow me.". During my time in the city, I learned of a few hiding spots, there was one nearby. I took a sharp corner and he followed. There was a multi-level parking garage up ahead. I pulled in and Taro followed behind me. We'd just made it to the second floor when the sounds of sirens were passing by outside. I got out of my car as Taro did and looked out onto the street. "That was close." he said "I owe you one". I looked back into the street and started thinking about who could've done this to me. And there was only one person.

"Listen, I'm planning something big. And I'll need something from you when it's done."

"Yeah, sure. What'll you need?"

I turned and said "I'll need a new mechanic."

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

I was playin max payne 2 during the couple days it took me to write this and i think it slipped into my writing a bit. oh hey its my birthday, apparently im 27, but in fact im not cause I never put my real birthday anywhere for security/paranoia reasons, but enough about that...

and also, i figure my post was forgotten in the april fools joke as it was made a few minutes before it but are there any future plans for a fiction writing competition?


I'd just spent the last few minutes explaining the sitaution to Taro when he said "So, you went to this guy and found out that he was working for the Baron, but you still went back, and now you figure out he's a cop trying to get to me, and my father through you?"

"Um, yeah, pretty much." I replied

"So what's your plan now?"

"My plan is to run up in there and shoot up the place."

"And get killed in the process? You cant go up against this guy without a plan, let me help you."

"Okay, what's the plan then?"

"Well, he's probably got a lot of big guns in the garage for defending himself in case his cover's blown. So, we'll need something bigger."

"Like what?"

Taro grinned and said "I've got just the thing in mind."

Later that night...

We waited a couple hours for the heat to cool down, then Taro called one of his gang members and told them to bring a car.We walked down to the ground level of the garage. When Taro's friend arrived Taro said "You'll find my and Rick's cars on the next floor. Repaint them both and search Rick's car for any tracking devices.". The gang member nodded and pulled out his own phone as he walked away. Taro and I climbed into the car and he started driving. "Okay," he said "I'm gonna pick up a couple of my allies, then we're gonna do this right.". Then he pulled out his cell phone again, looking through a list of contacts until he found who he was looking for, called them, and said "Meet me at the resturant on Orchard. Bring fireworks.". Then he disconected the call and headed north. "Aren't there going to be witnesses at a resturant?" I asked. "There shouldn't be. I own the place.". I sighed "Look, I appreciate the help but this feels like someone cleaning up my own mess."

"No," he replied "This is me defending my organization. And we both know even if you kill this guy on your own, the only ally you'll have left in this city is a crazy doctor and that won't help you when the Baron decides to visit.". I knew he was right, but it didn't change the fact that I wasn't much of a team player.

We arrived at Taro's Resturant. The red neon lights cut through the night like a bloody kinfe through black velvet. His firends were already waiting there when we arrived. There were two of them standing around a blue and gray pickup truck. "We brought what you asked for, it's in the back of the truck." Taro walked to the truck and I followed behind him. In the cab of the truck, strapped down was a rocket launcher. "Is that what you meant by fireworks?" I asked. "Yes it is, but if everything goes according to plan we won't need to use it.". He replied.

"So what's the plan?" I asked, this was slowly spinning out of my control, I didn't like yielding command to anyone but if he had access to weaponry like this, then he might have a plan. "We stealth in there and if that doesn't work then we blow the crap out of the place."

"That's your master plan?" I asked incredulously, I felt slightly hypocritical as I had a bad idea earlier, but mine didn't involve risking other peoples lives.

"It's a good plan." said one of his friends

"Damn right it is." Taro said "Get locked and loaded. We roll now. Rick, you come with me."

Taro went back to his car, waiting for me to come. I turned to his allies and said "How could you possibly say this is a good plan? It's suicidal."

They shrugged and one said "His father lost faith in him and his actions. Taro is trying to redeem himself by defending his family. It'd be even more suicidal to go against him."

Taro called "Rick are you coming?"

I turned towards Taro's car then turned back and said "Look, I ain't gettin' killed over Taro's daddy issues. You two might be willing to get killed for someone else, but everyone i'd die for is dead already. So don't expect me to take the same chances you will, understand?" They nodded and I said "Alright, let's get this over with."

Later...

We arrived at Mike's garage, got out of the vehicles and crouched behind them. One of Taro's allies had a silenced pistol and the other had a semi-automatic handgun. Taro had a submachine gun for himself and I had my own weapon, the same one I'd used for months now. It almost felt like another limb at this point. "OK" said Taro "Me and Rick go in the front, you two cover us from the door, got it?"

"Listen, I know this guy." I started "If we-"

"Rick, I know what I'm doing" he said cutting me off

"I'm sure you do." I replied

Taro's allies went in front of us and stood on opposite sides of the door while he and I went towards the door. The lights were off in the garage and it seemed empty. I saw someone moving inside and was about to say something when a shot gun blast blew out the front door severly wounding Taro's leg. He collasped on the ground while his allies and I retreated back to the vehicles as more shots came out the door.

"You a**holes don't know who you're dealing with here!!" I could hear Mike yell from inside. Taro was playing possum but if he didn't get medical help soon, he'd be dead for real.

"Mike, how did you think this would end!?" I yelled

"With you and Taro Yamamura dead, and I'm halfway there!" another shot blasted through the door.

I said to Taro's partners "Okay, this is going from bad to worse, we need to-" then I noticed they were unloading the rocket launcher from the truck "What are you doing?" I asked

"We're getting ready to blow the place up."

"But Taro's still alive!"

"No one but us knows that."

"I-you-dammit!" I tighened my grip on the pistol "Don't shoot!" I said. I started shooting into the building and Mike went for cover. I grabbed Taro and pulled him away from the door. I dragged him away with one hand while still firing with the other. I got him behind the cars then turned to the one holding the launcher and said "Light it up". He stood and prepared to fire. I could see inside that Mike had seen what was about to happen and was running to the back of the garage. "Now! Before he gets away!" I yelled out. He fired and the rocket went flying towards the building crashed through the door and exploded. The flame punched outward blowing the front of the building to pieces, random explosions went off inside then suddenly the gas tanks under the building exploded, a fist of fire punched up through the entire garage and reduced it to rubble.

"I thought you said everyone you'd risk your life for was dead?" said one of Taro's partners

I replied "If he died here, his father wouldn't be too happy with the people who let it happen. So I guess the one person I'd die for, is me."

"That an intresting philosophy."

"I guess so. Look, Taro needs help. I know a guy with a warehouse-"

"That quack? No. Don't worry we know people at the hospital that'll stop the police from getting involved, he'll be better in no time."

"So you guys can just cover this all up?"

"For the most part, yes. Still I don't recommend you be here when the authourites arrive." He took out a piece of paper and wrote an address on it. "Go here tommorow to get your repainted car."

I took the address and the keys for Taro's car. I drove away from the scene trying to look as unsuspicious as possible when I passed the emergency vehicles heading to the scene. I leaned back in the seat and was prepared to spend the rest of the night relaxing when my phone rang. I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, hotshot."

"Rose? What's going on? Why are you calling?"

"Don't worry I'll answer everything. Meet me tommorow and I'll tell you everything you need to know."

"Everything I need to know about what?"

"About everything."

"Wait, where'll I meet you?"

"Don't you worry about that." she said, then she hung up.

I sighed as I put my phone away. Whatever this girl was involved in, she was determined to drag me into it. But why me? What was it? And why was she the only person who could make me ask so many rhetorical questions?

Meanwhile...

Mike Rototelli felt like half of his body was on fire, the truth was it was more that that but the nerves had been burnt. The shockwave had thrown him away from most of the fire but some still reached him. He crawled away from the building to get away from the spreading flames. In his blurry vision he could see paramedics arriving and felt them put him on a stretcher. The whole time he was thinking one word:

Revenge.

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

well, it's been almost 2 months, but i've finnaly got around to writing this, it's shorter than i originally planned, but i didn't want to add more onto it just for the sake of adding. there's some plot advancement, but mostly recapping on stuff that happened already since it's gettin hard to keep track of =P



I awoke with a start. I could feel something was different. Some deep animalistic instinct told me that someone or something was in my apartment. Moving slowly so I wouldn't make any noise I slipped out of bed. I reached onto the dresser and grabbed my pistol. Then, creeping slowly I snuck out of my room to scan the apartment. I peeked around the corner and looked around, I walked towards the kitchen with my gun pointed outwards. I stood still waiting for the intruder to reveal themself. After a moment I relaxed and decided the whole thing was paranoia. Then i felt a tap on my shoulder. I whipped around and someone grabbed my hand, then hit me in the stomach, causing me to bend over in pain before I could see their face. Faster than I could react I found myself knocked to the floor wih my hand pinned behind my back. I could hear a woman's voice saying "Hey, hotshot."

"Rose!?" I asked, surprised.

"Yep, you barely put up a fight." she said, as she got up.

"That's cause I was enjoying my self" I replied, rubbing my arm as I stood "But more importantly, how did you get in here?"

"Front door, picked the lock." she said matter-of-factly. "But much more importantly, we have somewhere to go."

"I don't know about we, but I," I said, pulling out the piece of paper with the address of where my car had been stored, after last night's little incident, from my pocket "have somewhere to go."

Rose got a stern look on her face "You need to come with me." she said

"No, I need to get my car. And until I get some explaination about whatever it is your so concerned about I'm not going anywhere with you."

"It's about your father."

I took a moment to put on a stright face and not show any surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Your father was the leader of a group known as 'The Hand'. The main purpose of which was to take down the syndacite called 'The Kingdom'. He put alot of pressure of the leader of their local division, Baron, and they hit back hard. Your father refused to sell drugs and we were low on cash. That's why he had to shut down The Hand. Too many people died for his purpose."

"But then he got killed, by Adam Raiker." I made sure to leave out the fact that Adam and I used to be friends.

"We've been doing some research, turns out Raiker was hired by some low level CIA agents."

"CIA? and who's 'we' ?"

"The Kingdom has connections that stretch up to the government. I'm sure even the CIA owes them a favour or two. Not quite sure why they haven't come for you, maybe they think your dead. And as for your second question 'we' is 'The Hand'. After Rick Tobias Senior was killed, we knew we'd need a comeback. That's why I came to see you. We can't do this without you.

"You think I can help you, just because I'm the son of your leader?"

"No, I know you can help because you're you."

"Look, I don't know who you think I am..."

"I know exactly who you are, I've been watching you for a long time, if you set your strengths to a purpose, you'd be unstoppable."

"Watching me for a long time? How'd you even know I was here?"

Rose looked downwards "The day after Rick had shut down The Hand, I went to stay with my aunt. I was with her the night she died."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but what does it have to do with me?'

"My aunt owned a diner, her name was Flo."

Now that surprised me. "Flo? She was your aunt? And you were there when..."

She nodded "I was in the washroom when you came in. I peeked out and saw you, I could see your father in you. I was about to come and talk to you when..." She stopped talking abruptly and a single tear came out of her eyes.

I reached out to her hand. I knew exactly what she was talking about, I was there too. Flo had been killed in a drive-by by gangsters who were cheated out of drugs by her nephew.

Rose pulled her hand away and looked up at me "But this is why we need your help. If we can take out The Kingdom, then we'll be able to take over every territory in the city. We'll be in total control. And we could get rid of all the drugs in the city"

"And who's to say we wouldn't go mad with power?"

"I wouldn't let it come to that, and I know you wouldn't either."

I looked into her green eyes and thought for a moment, I already knew what I'd say "Ok, I'll help you, but I need to get this car first."

"What's so important about your car?" she asked angrily.

I looked over at her, I could tell her it used to belong to my best friend, nicknamed Double-Dime, from the city I used to live in, I could tell her that after I had been betrayed by the people I worked for they had tricked him into trying to kill me, I could tell her that after I shot him and he ended up in a coma I took his car, but in the end all I could say was "I like the air freshener."

She rolled her eyes, but agreed to come along. I grabbed my jacket and my baseball cap. We rode the elevator down to the garage and as we got in Rose's car, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I finally had a purpose, something to strive for. If she was right then after we took out The Kingdom, the city would be ours for the taking, and with my connections to Taro and his father's organization, we'd be able to keep the balance from shifting. It sounded a little radical in my head at first, but it had to be better than a shoot-out every week and another aquarium massacre. And even if Rose and her cohorts were to go crazy with power, I'm sure I could control them, I rationalized.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, at the N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville hospital...

Devon 'Double-Dime' Dawson lay in a coma on a hospital bed. Standing over him was nurse Reese. Her job was to check on the patients in the coma wing to make sure they were still breathing. She was about to move to the next one when something caught her eye. She paused for a moment. She gasped in shock when she realized what she saw after it happened again. Devon Dawson had moved his hand...



if you liked that, check out the link in my sig, it's just as, possibly even more, intriguing.

[T.E.R.R.O.R.IST]

it's finnaly here!

to the people who have been anticipating this, yes, all three of you, here is the next epic chapter. after this ill start posting in the San Paro RP thread, when i have time, but for now, here's what just might be Rick Tobais' last adventure in N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville!!

yeeaaaah!

When we got to the buildings garage, I made a disturbing discovery. My motorcycle was missing. I was about to state this out loud when Rose answered my unvoiced question.

"Your bike's been taken care of. We had it moved to our headquarters." she said

"Um, ok. Couldn't you have, maybe, I dunno, asked me first?" I responded sarcastically.

"You might have said no." she answered. "C'mon, we'll take my car and get yours, since you like it so damn much."

"Wow, where did that come from?" I said as we walked to her car.

"I'm sorry it's just...going back home has this effect on me."

"I thought here was your home?"

"N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville is where I live now, but I grew up in San Paro."

"That city, north of here? I've heard about it. Makes this place look like an amusement park. "

"That it does. I lost alot of my friends to that city. To the drugs, to jail, to guns..." Her voice trailed off as she recalled her childhood. Growing up, Rose learned to use her looks and street smarts to get by. Once she was old enough and had enough money, she bought a car, headed out of town and never looked back. She ended up in N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville and met Rick Tobias Senior. She helped him try to take down the large crime syndicate known as The Kingdom, for her own personal reasons which no one knew to this day, but eventually the Kingdom won out. Now with Rick Tobias senior dead, she was trying to revive the organization known as The Hand.

"Well, don't worry about it. Like you said once we take the other gangs out, we'll be in total control remember?"

"You actually bought that crap? I just said that to get you in the car."

I looked up at her as my hand rested on the door handle "Well it seemed like a good enough idea. So what do you want me for then?"

"We're taking down the Kingdom. No one and nothing else matters. Alot of their high rankers live in San Paro and the surrounding area. It's practically lawless. We're gonna take out their operation, brick by brick."

"Y'know, they did have my father killed. You could've tried a revenge angle rather than making me out to be some knight in shining armour. It would've worked much faster." I said while opening the door and sitting down.

"I'll remember that for next time then." She said as she got in the car. "What's the address of that place where your car is?"

I handed her the piece of paper as I sat down. I was pretty annoyed about the fact that she had me thinking I'd have to worry about us turning into some sort of Knights Templar, but I was happy for a chance to avenge my father. It took us a half hour to get to the location. It was a clean looking garage that looked like it had alot of business, but today, on this rainy Sunday, it was closed. I knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" came a gruff voice on the other end.

"It's Rick Tobias." I answered. "I need my car."

"Yeah, I got it. Hang on." A few moments later, the garage door clattered open. I could see my, but it was really Dime's, car just behind the now open door. The florescent overhead lights flickered off the red paint accented by a yellow stripe on the side. Me and Rose walked over to the car and the mechanic handed me the keys.

"Alright," he said "I changed the plates, and painted a racing stripe on the side. Far as the police here are concerned, you're a ghost."

"Well I'm not planning to stay long anyway..." I replied, unlocking the door and getting in.

"Oh, one more thing," said the mechanic before I closed the door. "Taro wanted to talk to you. He's at the hospital last I checked."

"Alright then..." I looked up at Rose "You coming or...?"

"I'll get some of my boys to take my car to San Paro, Then I'll get a cab and meet you at the hospital." she said, then she walked off, her red hair bobbing as she went.

"You like her, eh?" the mechanic asked.

"What? What are you talking about? We're just friends."

"Psh, I saw how you looked at her. That wasn't a 'just friends' look."

"Yeah well, who asked you?"

"You're following her to San Paro, you must feel something for her."

"I have my own reasons," I replied, trying to keep my cool.

"I'll bet you do, but you better get going."

"Yeah, I'm gonna do just that," I said. And with that, I closed the door and headed for the hospital.

Later, at the N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville hospital...

I arrived at the hospital a few minutes later. The red sign above the door glowed, indifferent to the dark clouds and rain while I jogged to the front entrance. The automatic door slid open and I entered. The place was abuzz with activity. That wasn't unexpected, in a city like this the hospital was bound to get alot of people in and out. I went up to the front desk and asked the plump lady sitting there "Excuse me, where can I find Taro Yamamura?"

She typed the name into a nearby computer, "Third floor, the room just to the left of the coma wing."

I thanked her and headed for the elevator as several other people entered or exited. I tried to discretely hide my face from the camera in the elevator. The door opened on the third floor, one person went in and I was the only person who got out. What I saw was a large window on my left, pelted by raindrops, over looking the parking area where flashing lights could be seen. To my right was a hallway with five rooms in it and at the and of the hall was a door labelled "Coma Wing" which lead to, presumably, the coma wing of the hospital. Walking down the hall I found the room with Taro's name on the door, the last one in the hall. I knocked on the door and Taro called "Come in!".

The inside of the room had the same green and grey design as the rest of the hospital. Taro was lying on his back in a green bed. His leg was suspended and there was a large cast around it. "How does the leg feel?" I asked.

"I don't feel it much actually. The doctors say that's normal with this kind of injury. They might be able to save it, but if not I'll have to get in amputated, probably replaced with a prosthetic leg." he replied casually, as though he's said this several times.

"I can't help but feel this is partially my fault. You wouldn't have been at that garage if I hadn't gotten involved with Mike and his operation."

"Hey man, if it weren't for you, I'd be dead, so don't worry about it. My dad was pretty pissed though..."

Wanting to change the subject I asked "So, what did you want to see me for?"

"Just to say thanks, and anytime you need a favour, anything at all, you can call me."

"I might just have to take you up on that. Be seeing you." I said as I departed.

"Yeah, no doubt," said Taro as he returned to gazing out the window.

I silently slipped out of the room and shut the door. I was about to take the elevator back down when I took a glance over at the coma wing. A thought crossed my mind. A small voice in my head asked "What if...?". I knew I'd never forgive myself for not checking. If he was in that area somewhere it would be my fault, I owed Dime this much...

Inside the coma wing was similar to the downstairs area, but the pace was slower, as if all the doctors and nurses weren't in a rush because they knew their patients weren't going anywhere. The was another desk and a lady who looked similar to the one downstairs sat at it. A vague notion to ask her if her name was 'Nurse Joy' crossed my mind but I abandoned it. I asked her about Dime's room and she directed me towards it. I walked in and received a cold shock. Devon 'Double-Dime' Dawson, one of my oldest friends, was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines to make sure he was kept alive, and it was all my fault. Granted, he was trying to kill me when I shot him, but the least I could've done was make sure he was dead. I felt myself wanting to reach for my gun, to put him out of his misery when a nurse came in.

"Hi there," she said cheerily extending her hand "I'm Nurse Resse, can I help you with anything?"

"Umm, yes," I said, awkwardly shaking her hand "I was wondering what you could tell me about that patient over there?"

She looked over at where I pointed "Devon Dawson?" she asked.

"Yeah," then a memory came shimmering back "I thought he was John Doe when he came in here."

"He was, we found out his identity from using facial recognition on some police reports." She answered. There was something unnerving about her sunny attitude in this cloudy environment.

"Okay then, well, how is he doing?"

"Well, I did see some movement the other day so his condition is improving, but it won't get much better here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there is another hospital, better suited for his needs. I'm positive that if he were there he'd make a full recovery, with maybe a little memory loss, but there is one problem..."

"Which is?"

"It's in San Paro."

The irony was unsettling.The location where Dime would recover from his coma, was in the same place I was going to. The nurse mentioned memory loss, but how much? I knew what I had to do, I wasn't about to let my best friend be like this any longer if I could help it.

"Okay," I said "Suppose I want to move him to this location...?"

"Are you a relative?" The Nurse asked.

"Yeah...we're...we're brothers." I lied.

Either she believed me, or had seen this kind of thing too much to care, but nonetheless she told me to wait while she left to get the forms. I shifted impatiently from side to side until she returned. She handed me a piece of paper and a pen and told me were to sign. I used a fake name, Tobias Dawson.

"How long will it take to get him there?" I asked.

"It'll be done by the end of the week," she replied "Maybe sooner."

I thanked her a quickly departed. It seemed far too easy, far too lucky, I didn't want to stay and jinx it. Part of me wondered what I'd do if he woke up and remembered exactly what happened, but I would deal with that later...

I got out the elevator, and walked towards the reception area where I saw Rose, her wet hair drooping over angry green eyes. It looked like the rain had increased while I was inside and was just starting to let up a bit.

"What took you so long!?" she demanded.

"Had to...take care of something."

She rolled he eyes and huffed impatiently. "Well are you done now, or do you have to mail a letter next?"

"Nope, I'm about wrapped up," I said "Although I wouldn't mind swinging by the warehouses, saying bye to the doctor, maybe Jazz too, if he's still hanging around there..." I added with a chuckle.

"We're going" she said flatly.

She grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the car. Looking up, I saw the sky getting dimmer as evening came. It would likely be night before we got to San Paro. We got in the car and Rose detached the GPS navigator from its stand in the dash board. When I asked what she was doing, she replied that she was inputting the address of The Hand's base in San Paro. The ETA readout on the GPS said it would take a couple hours to reach it. I pulled the car out of the parking lot and headed north...

Some time later...

The rain had stopped, the clouds receded, the dark night ruled the sky and the moon came out to shine. We were on the highway now, and nearly to our destination, at least that's what the signs said. Wanting to break the silence I asked Rose "So why do you want to take down The Kingdom so badly? I assume you had a reason before you met my father...?"

She said quietly "I don't want to talk about it." And left it at that.

I glanced over at Rose. The moon light shone off her red hair, her bright green eyes were staring off into the distance. For a moment I didn't want to look away, then she turned and saw me looking at her. "What?" she asked.

"Hm? Oh. Uhhh, nothing." I replied quickly and returned to looking at the road. In my new-found concentration, I didn't notice she was looking at me in the same way as N/APB/SERVER89/WORLD32ville disappeared behind us...




*exhales*

well that was a long run, if none of that made sense to you, i suggest reading at least the post above this one, or even the whole thing, it's summer, you have time.

as usual, post any comments here http://apb.nevolved.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=4038